MADAM,

Unlike Rhian Bisson (‘An open letter to David Davies,’ 8th February) I cannot claim to know what stance Monmouth constituents would wish David Davies MP to take on the proposed state visit of President Donald Trump later this year.

I do not at all dissent from her charge sheet against the new President and indeed would add a few more concerns: his quasi-socialist protectionist policies and his closeness to Vladimir Putin which threatens to destabilise the countries of eastern Europe. The executive orders of the last month have hardly reassured me. Yet he is the President of the most powerful country in the world with which we share a long history, democratic values and many personal ties.

Given the alternative of a vastly experienced and well-known political insider, nearly half the American electorate chose the maverick outsider Donald Trump which carried forward to a convincing win in the Electoral College. It is not for us to second-guess the verdict of the American people. Unlike former President Obama who would have sent us to ‘the back of the queue’ for a trade deal, President Trump clearly has some affection for Britain which may be very valuable in a post-Brexit climate.

Now is not the time for empty gestures and virtue signalling but for grown-up politics. I do not know whether a critical but constructive friendship with President Trump will work but it is surely worth trying. At least Prime Minister Theresa May was able to get a public commitment to NATO on the record during her Washington visit. I understand that an online petition to oppose the President’s state visit has attracted nearly two million signatures. I’m not sure if David Davies needs any advice on how to vote on 20th February. He might reflect that more than sixty million of us have declined to sign!  

David Kenny

(Tredunnock)